1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning model railroad car for cleaning rails and the periphery thereof while the cleaning model railroad car is running on the rails.
2. Description of Related Art
According to an earlier development, various cleaning model railroad cars are known and can be roughly divided into two types.
According to the cleaning model railroad car, one type of the cleaning model railroad car comprises a car body, wheels for riding on rails, a motor to which an electrical current is supplied through the wheels on the rails, and a dust collection fan (a cleaning head) to be rotatable by the motor, wherein the wheels, the motor, and the dust collection fan are attached to the car body.
The other type of the cleaning model railroad car comprises a car body, wheels for riding on rails, a motor to which an electrical current is supplied through the wheels on the rails, and a dry polishing head as a file (a cleaning head) to be rotatable by the motor, wherein the wheels, the motor, and the file are attached to the body.
According to the cleaning model railroad car comprising the dust collection fan, it is possible to clean any dust or the like from the rails and the periphery thereof while the cleaning model railroad car is running on the rail. Further, according to the cleaning model railroad car comprising the dry polishing head, it is possible to remove any carbon adhered to the rails and any rust on the rails.
However, according to an earlier development, when cleaning any dust from the rails and when removing any carbon and any rust from the rails, it is necessary to use the different type of cleaning model railroad car. Accordingly, it is necessary for model railroading enthusiasts to be required the high cost in order to clean the rails.
Further, a model railroad car that can control a drive motor for rotating wheels by a pulse voltage modulated a pulse width to change a travel speed thereof is known.
According to the model railroad car to which the cleaning model railroad car as described above is applied, an electrical current is supplied to a motor for driving a cleaning head through the wheels on the rails. Accordingly, the slower the travel speed of the model railroad car is, the slower the acting speed of the cleaning head is. Consequently, there has been the problem that it is not possible to clean effectively, or the like.
The present invention was developed in view of the above-described problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning model railroad car which can do various cleaning by itself.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning model railroad car which can do cleaning effectively regardless of a travel speed thereof.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a cleaning model railroad car (for example, a cleaning model railroad car 8 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3) comprises: a car body (for example, car body 20 shown in FIG. 3); wheels (for example, wheels 8b shown in FIG. 4) attached to the car body, for riding on rails (for example, feeding rails 3a and 3b shown in FIG. 1, that is a model railroad track); a motor (for example, a head drive motor 8a shown in FIGS. 4 and 7) attached to the car body, to which an electrical current is supplied through the wheels on the rails and a motor shaft (for example, a motor shaft 8e shown in FIG. 7) is provided; a dust collection chamber (for example, a dust collection chamber 21 shown in FIG. 7) provided at the car body; a head mounting concave portion (for example, a head mounting concave portion 23 shown in FIG. 7) provided below the motor, for opening toward a lower surface of the car body below thereof and communicating with the dust collection chamber; and a cleaning head (for example, a dust collection fan 24 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and a polishing head 25 shown in FIG. 9) provided at the motor shaft projected in the head mounting concave portion, which can be installed to and removed from the motor shaft.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a cleaning model railroad car comprises: a car body; wheels attached to the car body, for riding on rails; a head mounting concave portion provided at the car body, for opening toward a lower surface of the car body below thereof; and a cleaning head provided at the head mounting concave portion, which can be installed to and removed from the head mounting concave portion.
According to the cleaning model railroad car as described above, the cleaning head can be installed to and removed from the car body so that it is possible to change the cleaning head to various types of cleaning heads. As a result, it is possible to clean the rails by one cleaning model railroad car as occasion demands.
Preferably, the cleaning model railroad car as described above, further comprises: a dust collection fan (for example, a dust collection fan 24 shown in FIG. 8) as the cleaning head.
Preferably, another type of the cleaning model railroad car as described above, further comprises: a motor attached to the car body, to which an electrical current is supplied through the wheels on the rails and a motor shaft is provided; a dust collection chamber provided at the car body, for communicating with the head mounting concave portion; and a dust collection fan as the cleaning head, provided at the motor shaft projected in the head mounting concave portion, which can be installed to and removed from the motor shaft and be rotated by the motor.
According to the cleaning model railroad car as described above, the cleaning model railroad car comprises the dust collection fan as the cleaning head so that it is possible to clean any dust and the like accumulated on the rails and the periphery thereof.
Preferably, the cleaning model railroad car as described above, further comprises: a dry polishing head (for example, a polishing head 25 shown in FIG. 9) as the cleaning head.
Preferably, another type of the cleaning model railroad car as described above, further comprises: a polishing head as the cleaning head. And preferably, the cleaning model railroad car, further comprises: a motor attached to the car body, to which an electrical current is supplied through the wheels on the rails and a motor shaft is provided; wherein the cleaning head is provided at the motor shaft projected in the head mounting concave portion, and can be installed to and removed from the motor shaft and be rotated by the motor.
The polishing head includes a dry polishing head and another type of polishing head. The dry polishing head is a paper, a file, a head to which a resin is attached, or the like. Another type of polishing head is a head to which a silicon cloth is attached or the like.
According to the cleaning model railroad car as described above, the cleaning model railroad car comprises the dry polishing head or the polishing head as the cleaning head so that it is possible to remove any carbon adhered to the rails and any rust on the rails.
Preferably, the cleaning model railroad car as described above, further comprises: a tank (for example, a tank 26 shown in FIG. 7) attached to the car body, to store a cleaning liquid therein; and a wiping unit (for example, a wiping unit 29 shown in FIG. 7) which can be installed to and removed from the car body, for wiping the rails with the cleaning liquid of the tank.
Preferably, the cleaning model railroad car as described above, further comprises: a tank (for example, a tank 26 shown in FIG. 7) attached to the car body, to store a cleaning liquid therein; and a wiping unit (for example, a wiping unit 29 shown in FIG. 7) attached to the car body so that which can be contacted with and separated from the rails, for wiping the rails with the cleaning liquid of the tank.
According to the cleaning model railroad car, the car body comprises the wiping unit for wiping the rails with the cleaning liquid so that it is possible to remove any carbon adhered to the rails more effectively.
Preferably, the cleaning model railroad car as described above, further comprises: a motor driving circuit (for example, a motor driving circuit 9 shown in FIG. 4) for driving the motor (for example, a head drive motor 8a shown in FIG. 4), comprising a full wave rectifier circuit (for example, a full wave rectifier circuit 9a shown in FIG. 4) and a smoothing capacitor (for example, a smoothing capacitor 9b shown in FIG. 4).
According to the cleaning model railroad car, a regulated power supply unit that is composed of the full wave rectifier circuit and the smoothing capacitor is provided on the motor driving circuit. Consequently, even if the cleaning model railroad car is applied to a model railroading for controlling a drive motor for rotating wheels by a pulse voltage modulated a pulse width thereof, it is possible to stably clean the rails regardless of the travel speed of the model railroad car.